Trucks and wife Susan Tedeschi unite in new band at Wanee Festival

A lot has changed since Derek Trucks was a guitar prodigy in the 1990s, a youngster barely able to stretch his arm long enough to form complicated chords at the end of his guitar neck on his frequent nightclub performances in Orlando.

Now, at age 31, Trucks has grown into an in-demand slide guitarist who has toured with Eric Clapton and Santana. He has been a member of the Allman Brothers Band, an ensemble that also is family to him, because Trucks happens to be the nephew of Allman drummer Butch Trucks. So it'll be a family affair when the guitarist plays at this week's massive Wanee Music Festival at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak.

"It feels like a family reunion because I pretty much know everybody there," said Trucks, a Jacksonville native who still lives and works in that city. "It's a great place to reconnect with people and, with a lot of these people, it's the only time I see them all year. It's fun to gig with the Allmans and to show them your new projects. Plus, it's close to home for me, so I can see the kids and family, then drive home and sleep in my own bed."

Trucks' latest project also has family ties. It's a new, 11-member R&B and blues band built around Trucks and his wife, critically acclaimed blues singer and guitarist Susan Tedeschi. The Tedeschi Trucks Band recently finished recording its debut album, "Revelator," in the couple's home studio in Jacksonville. Slated for June release, the songs feature plenty of guitar solos as well as a horn section and vocalists that take the music close to the gospel realm on songs such as "Bound for Glory."

"The record really has a lot of pretty distinct styles and really only that one song with the gospel vibe," Trucks said. "We have a lot of songwriters in this band, so it bodes well for a long career and a lot tunes. We have a lot of ideas."

Trucks and the band explored them during about 15 months in the studio at home in Jacksonville. That's a lot longer than he had spent on any of his eight albums with his own Derek Trucks Band.

"Most of the records we did in the past, we spent maybe two or three weeks tops, just taking a break from the road to go into a studio and do it," he said. "We formed this band in the studio and spent time writing tunes, doing a lot of rehearsals and making sure pieces were right. Having a studio at home is the only way we could've done that because there's no way we could've spent that amount of time if we were paying studio hours. We would've ended up selling the house and bus and it would've been over with."

It's impressive enough that the couple takes all 11 members on the road, a formidable entourage in tough economy times for the music business.

"It's the full circus," Trucks said. "At every turn, we've had opportunities to scale it down and think smaller, but there's nothing like it, with two drummers on stage, background singers and horns. It's hard to go back."